@Jabra:
Usopp will have his sniper duel with Van Augur, Oda simply has to deliver here after the insane Sugar-snipe chapter. But I don't believe that he's Usopp's final opponent.
Why? Because a sniper duel is Usopp's comfort zone. Even if he's afraid of Augur's sniping skills, they would be still playing in Usopp's ballpark. It won't be that easy, none of his real fights are.
Instead, I'm fully expecting an opponent switch halfway. To none other than Burgess, the champion guy. The 1. Fleet Captain. The house-throwing titan with unwavering confidence, not afraid of anything ever. Usopp's polar opposite.
Confronting and beating someone like him would be a satisfying finale for someone who went to sea to become a brave warrior. Of course he won't beat him through strength, but with all the little tools and gadgets he picked up until now, but it will be really good regardless.
@Md-Martin:
I really like this.
Especially because it ties in with something I've been thinking about for a while, which is Usopp's Impact Dial. I don't believe he's used it since his fight with Luffy in Water 7. It does make sense, since he still feels the recoil from the blow, so it doesn't fight in with his fighting style for the most part…except for when it's being used as a surprise attack.
I could imagine Usopp fighting someone like Burgess, getting beating to a pulp, and when he goes to deliver the final blow, Usopp absorbs it with the impact dial, declares himself a brave warrior of the sea, and throws the attack back at him.
I still think a full fight between Usopp and Van Augur would be the most impressive final fight Usopp could have. I already got my fill of Usopp getting pummeled to near death and finding a way to bounce back when he fought Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas. And every opponent Usopp fights is an overconfident braggart, so Burgess being the umpteenth antagonist to get humbled wouldn't really do much for me.
If I you'll bear with me retrospecting real quick, every battle Usopp has had thus far has been against people who would obliterate him in some way if they made contact with him. Whether it's Chew's Fishman strength, Mr. 4's bat, Perona's exploding ghosts, Sugar's toy transformation touch, the answer is always the same process with different factors. Make some distance, stall the enemy with some distractions or attacks that seem like they will work but don't, epically tank hits, and snipe the hell out of the opponent for a finishing move (Chew is an exception since that was before Usopp's artillery was more than gags and while the final blow on Perona was technically the 4ton hammer feint, the battle was over as soon as she got hit by the roach ball).
So fighting Burgess, who would basically be a stronger Chew, probably only adds another example to that list. The David and Goliath angle for Usopp fights have been done to death, and we will probably LITERALLY get that in some way at Elbaf (we still have yet to see how the "beating ten giant's shadows" lie will come true), so having Usopp fight Burgess will feel a tad bit redundant. And as freaking awesome as Martin's idea sounds (and it really is freaking awesome), the Dials have been left untouched for so long that it's hard for me to see Oda ever acknowledging them again.
A sniper duel might seem like Usopp's comfort zone, but I actually argue it is the exact opposite. Why? Because Usopp has NEVER fought another marksman. Not even once. Whole Cake Island had at least four marksmen in that arc (Vito's monster Zoan guns that we never got to see, Mont-d'Or had a rifle, Opera almost killed Luffy and Nami in the book prison with a crossbow instead of his burning cream Devil Fruit for some reason, and remember Katakuri flicked a couple terminal velocity jellybeans at the wedding and never did it again?) but, oh so conveniently, Usopp was never there to counter them. The closest marksman v. marksman match we've got so far thing we got was that Loguetown pseudo-canon story with Daddy the Father, but that was only Usopp performing a test under pressure.
Oda will have a guy with a freaking stone golem Devil Fruit whip out a sword against Zoro for a few seconds to preserve his arbitrary streak of Zoro only having full fights against swordsman (and a couple arc villains too weak for Luffy), but Oda is mysteriously allergic to making Usopp fight anyone who fights like him. The only explanations for this I can possibly conjure up are that he isn't all that interested ranged weapon fights, doesn't feel he's creative enough to make them look varied, and/or he thinks Usopp fighting Van Augur would look less special if Usopp fought a guy good with guns beforehand.
And that is where the appeal is. Usopp, for once in his life, has to fight someone like him. Not a hunkering brute or a bratty girl with a broken Devil Fruit, but someone who may very well be as cunning as he is. I think people are only focusing on the aspect of Usopp meeting his match in long-ranged combat and not enough on how strategic he could be. Usopp never wins by solely using his sniping skills as a crutch, he wins through mind games. Stealth, pranks, gadgets, traps, Usopp has always been more of an overall strategist than solely a sniper like how Zoro only relies on swords.
Do you think this battle is just going to be Usopp and Van Augur on two different sides of an island shooting at each other until one of them makes a lucky shot? I can never imagine a writer as quirky as Oda settle for something that monotonous and grounded. Well, except for Zoro. Every fight he has comes down to sword clash after sword clash until Zoro finally closes out the fight with a first and final slash.
So here's my idea on how it could all go down, which I'm spoiling for the sake of length moderation:
! Usopp has triumphed through all of his battles by making distance and getting in a good shot. That's how Augur operates too, and it's likely that he'll be a counter to Usopp in every way.
! So how about forcing Usopp to fight the other way around? Instead of winning from AFAR, what if he has to beat Augur UP-CLOSE?
! What if Augur is so damn good at sniping/reacting, and his bullets can easily crush anything Usopp launches at him, that Usopp needs to constantly find ways to fool Augur into unknowingly creating openings for Usopp to eventually get the jump on him? Like Usopp tricking Augur into giving away his location, diverting Augur's attention to inch closer and closer to his where he is, and baiting Augur into coming closer to him? If you ask me, having a fight where Usopp needs to risk getting up close and personal with an opponent to land the winning blow while said opponent can still fight back is the perfect way to show him becoming a true "brave warrior of the sea."
! As aforementioned, Usopp does not win his battles through sniping. He wins through mind games. Think of all the tense wacky scenarios Oda can come up for having Usopp and Augur one-upping each other through sheer BSing. It could even go as far as being a gag version of the psychological warfare in Hunter x Hunter's fights. Along with a side dish of Usopp tanking a bunch of bullet wounds because Oda's never going to resist having Usopp getting throttled like a terrified rag doll but rising back up to the occasion like a badass.
! And we don't even know if Augur has a Devil Fruit yet! That alone can add so much more spice to this scenario.
! This is why I can't ever agree with a sniper duel being Usopp's "comfort zone" or pitting him against a literal Hulk Hogan being the best scenario. It's the exact opposite. It strips him of a skill that defines him which every other enemy had to work around to try beating him, and flips the tables. It begs the question that when you peel away Usopp being the best, no, the only sniper around, what does he have left to fall back on? Who is Usopp if he is not Usopp the Sniper King? The answer to those questions is simple.
! He is Usopp the Liar. That's the very first impression we and Luffy have of the guy before we even get an inkling that he's good with a slingshot. That is the cornerstone of Usopp's characterization, capabilities, and overall appeals. Not the sniping, a ship role that Usopp only got after his introductory arc ended like an afterthought. And that is the key ingredient that can make him overcome Augur, which would be all the more impressive if Augur has both superb sniping skill AND a Devil Fruit.
! Usopp will learn what it feels to fight himself. The tables will turn on him, and he will have to feel like how all of his previous opponents felt: having no choice but to go on the offensive against an annoying, tactical coward. Except that is not what Usopp is used to. Operating on the prowl to seize prey is not his specialty because he is only skilled in hiding and attacking from a distance as the prey. And that is where the compelling tension comes in, as this is Usopp truly fighting outside of his comfort zone. This is why Usopp's final fight focusing around having to out-Usopp a dark Usopp is the most compelling way to round out his string of conflicts thus far in an ironic full circle way. And while I don't know if Oda will go this deep with it, it's also kind of a way for Usopp to confront the type of person he used to be and prove that he's become more than that. A brave warrior of the sea like he always dreamed of.
! I know a lot of this is still purely a theory on my part. But think about this. How much do you want to bet that the final moments in this duel are going to be Usopp and Augur quick drawing each other like a western movie's high noon showdown between a sheriff and outlaw? Oda is ADDICTED to having his fights end with clashes where only the stronger/faster person wins. It's how he effectively shows who is the stronger brawler/swordsman. It happened as recently as Luffy vs. Katakuri. So considering how these guys are both used to fighting at long-range, it's not much of a stretch to suggest that the fight will mostly be a competition of who can get the drop who faster/stealthier until the inevitable final cowboy quickdraw contest.
! But for the sake of the current discussion, if Usopp's final fight has him landing a blow on a Blackbeard Pirate with an Impact Dial blast (which, again, I admit does sound really freaking awesome), I think it's actually more meaningful to have that happen to Augur than Burgess. It won't be as impressive on the surface, sure (although smaller/scrawnier characters in One Piece obliterating bigger opponents with one hit are a dime a dozen so that's absolutely nothing new). But it's the perfect way to cement what separates Usopp from Augur. Usopp, the Straw Hat Pirates' sniper, always gets back up to defend his friend's dreams. Augur, the Blackbeard Pirates' sniper, cannot. Hell, imagine if Augur never even gets majorly injured in the fight until that moment too, implying that he has only dished out the hurt all his life but has never been able to take it like Usopp does time and time again as a testament to the latter's most charismatic moments. THAT is how Usopp can prove he is both a brave warrior of the sea and the one-and-true sniper king in one fell swoop. I doubt that will happen considering how irrelevant the Dials are, like I said earlier. But imagining it makes me feel positively giddy.